Early Voting Up In Parts Of Vermont

Interest in early voting is very high is several parts
of the state. In some communities it's expected that as many as a third of all voters
will cast their ballot before Election Day.

As candidates crisscross the
state and air new TV ads in this final week of the campaign, a large chunk
of voters won't be influenced by these last minute developments. That's because
they've already voted.

"We've been right out
straight with early voters. People seem to want to vote early for this
election," said Annette Cappy, the
Town Clerk in Brattleboro. "We spend most of our days just dealing with early
voters it's been wonderful. I think we're averaging close to 100 voters a day."

And Cappy said there's a fair
amount of work involved in the early voting system.

"There's a lot that needs to be done to track that ballot as it goes out and when it comes back but I think
you'll find every Town Clerk will say it's a good thing, it encourages more
people to vote early, they vote at their leisure and that's what we're here
for," said Cappy.

Henry Heck is the City Clerk
in Rutland. He said there's a lot of interest in early voting
and he expects it to grow in the years to come.

"In the future I believe that
absentee ballots will probably be more of a requested item, it is a little bit
more convenient once people feel comfortable with the process and how it
works," said Heck.

Several weeks ago, a
Republican Super PAC known as Vermonters First sent out early voting ballot
requests to thousands of people. Some town clerks reported that a number of voters
were very upset because they never requested the early ballot form. Heck said the Vermonters First initiative has
had an impact.

"There's no question that
that group has driven the absentee requests this year," said Heck.

It was easy for Montpelier
City Clerk John Odum to track the Vermonters First early voting ballots because
they misspelled his name on the return envelope.

"It was clearly a very
effective mailer," said Odum. "Now I did hear reports from several people stopping in that
they received that and they weren't necessarily sympathetic with the view of
Vermonters First but were going to use their form anyway."

And Odum said there's no
doubt that early voting is here to stay.

"It's clearly embraced by the
voters, it's embraced by the community," he said. "I think it puts a lot of burden on
clerks' offices but you know we're up to it."

Town Clerks say it's
important for voters to realize that once they cast an early ballot, they
cannot ask for another ballot if they change their mind about a specific race.